Hide Beetle Dermestes maculatus
(c) Juraj Ahel, some rights reserved (CC BY)
OrderBeetles (Coleoptera)
FamilySkin Beetles (Dermestidae)
GenusSkin Beetles (Dermestes)
This little scavenger has conquered every continent except Antarctica—a true world traveler hitching rides in human commerce. They're specialized hide and skin processors, and historically museums actually used them to clean delicate specimens because they worked so precisely. Their remarkable rapid life cycles allow populations to explode quickly wherever there's decaying organic matter.
Think you can identify this one in the wild?
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